Russia threatens to cut Ukraine gas supply

Russia threatens to cut Ukraine gas supply

Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom warned yesterday it could cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in two days if it fails to pay for the deliveries.
Last year Gazprom switched Ukranian energy firm Naftogaz to a pre-payment scheme for failing to pay its bills.
According to analysts, the payment deadline for the next chunk of gas supply ran out on Sunday and failure to pay could threaten supplies to the rest of Europe.
Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller has been reported as saying: “It takes about two days to get payment from Naftogaz deposited to a Gazprom account.
“That’s why a delivery to Ukraine of 114 million cubic meters will lead to a complete termination of Russian gas supplies as early as in two days, which creates serious risks for the transit to Europe.”
Analysts also suggested the current gas threat led to an increase in the UK power market prices yesterday.